Visiting UNE Spoils Season Opener for Wellesley Lacrosse

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The visiting University of New England women's lacrosse team posted a 16-8 victory over Wellesley College in frigid conditions on Saturday afternoon in Wellesley. The game served as the season opener for both squads.

UNE (1-0) capitalized on 21 Wellesley (0-1) turnovers and got a solid performance in goal from Courtney Kendall to earn the win. Wellesley out-shot the Nor'easters, 32-31, but the Blue were off the mark most of the day, including going 2-11 on free position shots.

For Wellesley, junior Meghan Peterson led the way with two goals and an assist, while also picking up four caused turnovers and four ground balls. Junior Claire Canty recorded a game-high nine draw controls, while also scoring a goal and picking up three ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Also for the Blue, senior Brit Mscisz notched a goal and an assist, while first-years Courtney Peterson, Nikki Sharkin and Mary Lemay, and sophomore Chesley Hooker all added goals. Wrapping up the Wellesley box score, senior Tori Hysko made nine saves in goal, while sophomore Caitlin Crawford added four ground balls.

Nikki Smith led the Nor'easters with three goals, while Hannah Warren had two scores and an assist. Hannah Tavella and Rachel Schwaner picked up two goals each, while Gina Newsome recorded a goal and two helpers. Rounding out the scoring for UNE, Jessica Deedon had a goal and an assist while Katie Cawley, Johanna Currier, Cole Dion, Devon Young, and Brooke Kelleher all added solo scores.

Defensively for the Nor'easters, Kendall finished with 15 saves, while Schwaner posted a pair of caused turnovers. Kasey Rubenstein had a team-high four ground balls, while Cassidy Ruocco had three of her own. Warren led UNE on the draw with four draw controls, while Currier added three.

Wellesley scored first on the afternoon, as a goal from Sharkin opened the offense at 27:55. UNE fired back with a free position shot from Dion to knot the game at 1-1, just under two minutes later. The Nor'easters kept their offense going, scoring four unanswered, including a pair of goals from Smith to make it 5-1 with 20 minutes remaining in the half.  

Wellesley scored back-to-back goals from Courtney Peterson and Meghan Peterson to cut the lead to 5-3, but UNE closed out the half on a 4-1 run, to make it 9-4 visitors at the break.

UNE continued to roll throughout the early part of the second half, holding Wellesley off the board for the first 14 minutes of the stanza, while scoring four straight to make it 13-4. Wellesley battled back with three unanswered scores to cut the lead to 13-7, but again UNE closed out the half on a run. The Nor'easters recorded three of the game's final four goals to wrap up the 16-8 victory.  

Wellesley is back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Endicott for a 4:00pm non-conference clash. UNE returns to the field tomorrow, heading to Husson for a 2:00pm match-up.